- Introduction
- Home Environment
- On March 1, 2011, Jim was asked questions about his home life. Jim lives in a household of four – father, mother, older brother (currently in high school), and himself. His father works for Lockheed Martin where he works on satellites that get sent into space, while his mother is a nurse whose main focus is in ultrasounds. Jim has his own room which does not have either a television set or a library. The household television, located in the living room, is where Jim watches programs on “Animal Planet” and plays different games on the Xbox and Wii systems (only about 10 – 15 hours a week). The household library is located in the office and contains one large bookshelf with very few books for him or his brother. Jim does sometimes visit the Public Library to take out books appropriate for him, but it is often only used when research for a project is needed. Jim does small jobs around the house like vacuuming about once a week – there is no allowance given. After returning home from school (in which Jim participates in no after school activities), he does his homework and plays outside. His work is often done at the dining room table with the help of either his father or mother – depending on who is home. Jim enjoys playing different game outside like football, baseball, and wrestling. His day ends at 9:45 P.M. – Jim’s weeknight bedtime.
- School Environment
- Also on March 1, 2011, Jim was asked questions about his feelings of school life. Jim does not really like school. His favorite subjects are Social Studies, Art, and Gym; his least favorite class is Spanish due to the fact that the class is taught using close to no English and Jim gets confused with what is going on in the class. Jim considers himself an “alright” reader. He believes that his grouping of the Q or R level means that he must not be a strong reader. When Jim does read, he will choice either an action or mystery book. Jim does not like to think about ways to possibly improve his reading – he has no theories on how reading could be improved. If Jim was to help someone read, the first piece of advice he would give would be to not run through sentences – stop at each period. He believes that knowing how to read will help him learn and pronounce new words. Jim does not like to write. When giving the choice, he will write a personally essay – they seem to flow better for him. He believes that knowing how to write will help him with spelling difficult words; he will need this skill in order to write government bills one day. If Jim was to go to a new school, he believes that the new teachers would see him as an alright student, not a star student.
- Home Environment
- Reading Performance
- Running Record / Miscue Analysis
- On March 3, 2011, Jim was asked to read aloud from the book The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates by Susan Shreve – fiction. This book was chosen because it was the only book that was available in Jim’s just-right section that he had not read. He has never read a book from this author before, but would consider reading another one of Shreve’s books depending on the outcome of this current one. When asked to describe the main plots of the book up to the present, he had was very vague – details had to be re-enforced with follow up questions. While reading aloud about 500 words from this text, Jim read with strong fluency; he stopped at appropriate punctuation (slight pauses for commas and full stops at final periods) and read dialogue with higher emotion. When asked, however, to discuss the major points of what was just read, Jim again struggled to give specific answers until specific questions were asked. Jim’s current strengths are his strong fluency levels and word recognition. He set himself the following goal, “If I come across a word I do not know, I will try to look it up in a dictionary.” So far Jim likes his current book.
- Throughout the 500 words that Jim read aloud, he had only one miscue. The word was “phonies;” Jim half mumbled the word “phonics” in its place and continued on. It is clear that Jim can pronounce and recognize what most words are; however, these words are not usually comprehended. It is because of this lack of comprehension skills that another text was not administered, and results were simply calculated in the DRA that was done with Jim.
- Directed Reading Assessment (DRA)
- Jim’s DRA was given on three separate trips to the field – March 10, 24, and 29 of 2011. On day one, Jim was administered the fifth grade DRA to a result of frustrational level, only answering five of the eight questions correctly – answering more explicit questions correctly. On day two, Jim was administered the fourth grade DRA. This assessment showed Jim at an instructional level, answering six of the eight questions correctly. On the final day, the third grade assessment was administered finding that this Jim’s independent level, answering all of the correctly. Throughout all three assessments, Jim did improve when he was allowed to look back at the text. Also, Jim performed better at answering the explicit questions – the questions that had spelled out answers. When it came time to answer the implicit questions, Jim took time to stop and really think before he answered – he would hesitate. According to what was found, Jim has below grade level comprehension skills.
- Jim’s DRA was given on three separate trips to the field – March 10, 24, and 29 of 2011. On day one, Jim was administered the fifth grade DRA to a result of frustrational level, only answering five of the eight questions correctly – answering more explicit questions correctly. On day two, Jim was administered the fourth grade DRA. This assessment showed Jim at an instructional level, answering six of the eight questions correctly. On the final day, the third grade assessment was administered finding that this Jim’s independent level, answering all of the correctly. Throughout all three assessments, Jim did improve when he was allowed to look back at the text. Also, Jim performed better at answering the explicit questions – the questions that had spelled out answers. When it came time to answer the implicit questions, Jim took time to stop and really think before he answered – he would hesitate. According to what was found, Jim has below grade level comprehension skills.
- Running Record / Miscue Analysis
- Writing Performance
- The reviewed narrative was copied from a writer’s workshop assignment given on December 16, 2011. The student was given about 20 minutes to write a personal narrative. Jim chose to write about a Celtics’ basketball game that he went to with his family.
- Mechanics
- In terms of mechanics, Jim made several mistakes in several different areas – capitalization, punctuation, and sentence types. Jim does not capitalize the beginnings of many of his sentences; however, all names, places, and teams are capitalized (his use of “mixed case” is not fully realized). Also, the rule of capitalization in quotation marks is not followed in this narrative. Jim has also displayed a struggle with punctuation – commas. Again, this shows through in the sentences where dialogue is being used to move the story forward. Also, Jim does not explore using any different types of sentences; exclamatory and interrogative sentences are not used. In terms of mechanics, Jim is not at a fifth grade level.
- In terms of mechanics, Jim made several mistakes in several different areas – capitalization, punctuation, and sentence types. Jim does not capitalize the beginnings of many of his sentences; however, all names, places, and teams are capitalized (his use of “mixed case” is not fully realized). Also, the rule of capitalization in quotation marks is not followed in this narrative. Jim has also displayed a struggle with punctuation – commas. Again, this shows through in the sentences where dialogue is being used to move the story forward. Also, Jim does not explore using any different types of sentences; exclamatory and interrogative sentences are not used. In terms of mechanics, Jim is not at a fifth grade level.
- Spelling
- In the personally narrative, Jim only has one spelling error – writing “I” instead of “it.” To further assess his spelling skills, Jim was administered a Ganske Spelling Inventory on March 31, 2011. This specific inventory tested Jim in different vowel sounds – long, r-controlled, abstract, etc. Jim received a score of 38, meaning he missed six out of the twenty-five words. Jim’s misspellings were all common errors – spelled word the way it sounds ignoring simple vowel sound rules. According to the assessment, Jim is an average speller.
- In the personally narrative, Jim only has one spelling error – writing “I” instead of “it.” To further assess his spelling skills, Jim was administered a Ganske Spelling Inventory on March 31, 2011. This specific inventory tested Jim in different vowel sounds – long, r-controlled, abstract, etc. Jim received a score of 38, meaning he missed six out of the twenty-five words. Jim’s misspellings were all common errors – spelled word the way it sounds ignoring simple vowel sound rules. According to the assessment, Jim is an average speller.
- Content
- In terms of content, Jim shows many signs of struggle – clear opening and closing, organization, details, and fluency. While the piece has a strong conclusion (minus the mechanical errors), Jim does not include an opening to the story; it simply starts without a captivation introduction. The narrative is not clearly organized. While the story does follow the series of events in order, there are several steers away from the main point of the story. Thus, leading to poor fluency throughout the piece; it is not an easy read. Also, Jim does not include strong details about the event that he his describing. On the positive, Jim did pick a strong topic that was close to him. On March 29, 2011, Jim briefly described this writing. He used great detail to re-create this event and spoke with passion. His understanding of the event was strong and colorful.
- In terms of content, Jim shows many signs of struggle – clear opening and closing, organization, details, and fluency. While the piece has a strong conclusion (minus the mechanical errors), Jim does not include an opening to the story; it simply starts without a captivation introduction. The narrative is not clearly organized. While the story does follow the series of events in order, there are several steers away from the main point of the story. Thus, leading to poor fluency throughout the piece; it is not an easy read. Also, Jim does not include strong details about the event that he his describing. On the positive, Jim did pick a strong topic that was close to him. On March 29, 2011, Jim briefly described this writing. He used great detail to re-create this event and spoke with passion. His understanding of the event was strong and colorful.
- Reccomendations for Future Instruction
- After conducting these several different assessments, I have concluded that Jim has the most difficulty with comprehension in reading and content and mechanics in writing. The following objectives should be addressed:
- Reading:
- The student will create a reading log for a just-right-book to document the main characters, their problems, and the end resolution.
- The student will write a connection paper stating how the main character is either like or not like them using main points from the just-right-book.
- Writing:
- The student will create a detailed story map that shows who the main characters are; a clear beginning, middle, and end; and the sequence of events of the soon to be written personal narrative.
- The student will write a personal narrative using a pre-created story map while using correct dialogue, punctuation, and a variety of different sentence types.
- The student will create a detailed story map that shows who the main characters are; a clear beginning, middle, and end; and the sequence of events of the soon to be written personal narrative.
- Reading:
- After conducting these several different assessments, I have concluded that Jim has the most difficulty with comprehension in reading and content and mechanics in writing. The following objectives should be addressed:
Loading...